Btw, for those who don't realize, the game we beat the Thunder we started Delfino at the 4 and Delfino had the best +/- that game.
Small ball is statistically one of our best lineups but GARM b****es about it endlessly. "McHale going smallball omggg whyyy, whyy are we taking the lead, whyyyyy."
Parsons on Ibaka using Harden at 3, Beverley at 2 (1 defensively), Lin at 1, and Asik at 5. If Ibaka goes to the 5, Parsons becomes the center and bring in Delfino. I don't think the above will work. The Rockets can't beat OKC by trying to match up with them. The Rockets have to go small. If OKC matches, go smaller.
We need to tire out their big men with good ball movement and playing small. We're obviously outclassed in a neutral match-up.
Delfino. It's clearly the best choice. Ibaka isn't gonna beat us- every offensive possession he uses is one less for Durant or Westbrook. And this completely opens the lane on the offensive end, which we need desperately. No one else can do that for us.
Just go with Beverley, Lin, Harden, Parsons, Smith and play the zone. Bring in Brooks sooner rather than later (especially if Lin struggles) as the 6th man off the bench for instant offense.
Jones has shown to do great against the second unit but struggle against experienced starters. Even last night, he was getting lead around by the nose for the little time he had on the court. That being said, he (and Motiejunas as well) could use time as while they can't lock anyone down they do bring better rebounding and offensive options then we've see of Delfino playing the 4 IMO. Asik is our best option when Ibaka is in the paint, if he goes to the perimeter, you have to live with him making those shots because really he is just learning to make them and hope the rest of your team is alert enough to get the rebound.
Last night I saw Ibaka nail an MJ-like turnaround fadeaway on the baseline. That's when I knew we were going to be annihilated.
I said D-Mo, hoping (probably futily) that he could find his 3 point shot. But the other posters make some strong points about Delfino. It's gotta be one of those two. Gotta have a stretch 4 to attempt to draw Ibaka from the basket, and I'd rather have Ibaka posting up than Durant and Westbrook doing their thing. Absolutely quit with Smith & Asik at the same time.
What exactly do the Rockets lose by putting Delfino on Ibaka? If you're thinking rebounding, then you're wrong. Greg Smith did a god-awful job on the boards last night... so even if Delfino does horrible on the boards, they still don't lose anything. Serge Ibaka isn't going to kill anybody in the post. And even if they keep going to him in the post to try to take advantage of a "mismatch," then I'll take that over Westbrook vs. Lin one-on-one every possession. And like so many have already said, putting Delfino at the 4 spreads the floor out more which can hopefully lead to more open lanes. Plus, one underrated aspect in putting Delfino at PF is that it lets the team do more switching on defense and create a little more havoc. That's the only way this team is going to make the series interesting, IMO.
